


Reunification

by DimplesandCheekbones



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Everyone Needs A Hug, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Leif calls out Quan, Quan tries to be a good dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 06:17:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20943704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DimplesandCheekbones/pseuds/DimplesandCheekbones
Summary: Leif has a question for his father. It doesn't go over well.





	Reunification

**Author's Note:**

> Leif was horrified when he learned of what Manster had been doing to Thracia, you cannot convince me he would not confront Quan about it at some point.

“Quan?”

Sigurd was surprised and a bit concerned when he came across his friend slouched over one of the tables in the library, face buried in his hands. When he heard his name, he slowly lifted his head, his expression momentarily weary before he realized who had called him.

“Sigurd,” he said, then quickly rose to his feet. “My friend, I need your advice.”

“What on?” Sigurd asked, worried by the urgency in his friend’s voice.

Quan hesitated. “Have you and Seliph ever fought?”

Sigurd shook his head. “I can’t say we have, not seriously at least. Why do you ask? Did something happen with you and Leif?”

“He brought something up and I- I didn’t react very well,” Quan admitted, starting to look ashamed.

This wasn’t a surprise but Sigurd refrained from saying so. Of all the children, Leif had been the least forthcoming about his past, feeling immense guilt about everything since The Fall of Leonster. It took a great deal of effort from Quan and Ethlyn to get him to say anything about what he had been through, the boy convinced they would be disappointed by him once he did.

“You’ve never been this upset about what he’s told you before,” Sigurd observed. “At least not at him.”

“It’s not him I’m upset with,” Quan corrected. “It’s myself.”

The way he spat out those last two words, as if they were something vile, got Sigurd’s full attention. “Quan,” he failed to keep the alarm from his voice, “What did you do?”

* * *

  
Leif was pouring over a book in the library when Quan found him. Curious as to what had his son so engrossed, he glanced at the covers of the other books stacked beside him. To his surprise, they were all on plants and rocks.

“Picking up a new hobby?” Quan asked. Leif’s head shot up, turning towards his father’s voice. He smiled in return to the question.

“Not exactly,” Leif said. “It’s more of a project for later. Hopefully.” He closed the book in front of him. “I actually have a question for you,” he said as he stood before his father.

“I’m afraid I’m not very familiar with these topics,” Quan admitted.

Leif shook his head. “It’s not about that.” He was silent for a moment, expression sobering as he met his father’s eye.

“What do you think of Manster’s trade policies?”

The question caught Quan off guard. Of all the topics his son would want to talk about, he hadn’t expected trade policies to be one of them. His expression was so serious, Quan almost found it amusing. Perhaps this was another of his attempts to be more mature. Regardless, he might as well entertain him.

“Specifically with Thracia.”

All amusement in the situation evaporated. Quan’s expression changed to match his son. He still didn’t know much about his son’s relationship with their neighboring country but from what he could gather from Finn, it was a complicated one.

“We have a non-trade policy with Thracia. They’re our enemies, there’s no reason for us to trade with them,” Quan answered. Leif seemed to be expecting this but wasn’t pleased to hear it.

“But you wanted Thracia to become one united country again, didn’t you?” Leif pressed. “Finn told me that was your dream, to see the countries reunified.”

Quan frowned. “I do, but what does reunifying have to do with our trade policy?”

“The trade policy is unfair to the Thracians. They don’t have the resources Manster does and have to resort to desperate measures just to get by. If Manster were to give them food and other supplies-” Leif’s suggestion was cut off by Quan.

“Leif, there’s a reason these policies were put into place. The Thracians have been trying to invade Manster for decades, giving them supplies would only put us at a disadvantage and encourage their attempts,” Quan tried to explain.

“They only try to invade because they can’t support themselves!” Leif countered. “Have you ever even been to Thracia?”

“Leif,” there was a warning in Quan’s voice but Leif ignored it.

“Their lands are barren; if they do nothing, they’ll starve! Thracia has to rely on aid from other countries to survive. Manster is the nearest country and the only one accessible by land, it only makes sense to help them!”

“Even if we were to offer aid, it’s naïve to think the Thracians would even accept it,” Quan said. “Or do you really believe you could negotiate with Travant?”

The mention of his parents’ murderer caused Leif to scowl. “I could never negotiate with that monster. But he’s not the only person in Thracia. There are other nobles who want what’s best for their people and we could help if we just tried to work with them.”

“And when was the last time a meeting between a noble of Thracia and Manster went well?”

Leif flinched at the question but stubbornly answered with his own. “When was the last time a noble from Manster tried to talk with a noble of Thracia? Or have they all been such evil men that it’s pointless to even try?”

Quan narrowed his eyes. “Idealism will get you nowhere. The Thracians have been hostile towards us ever since our countries separated, they’re not going to stop just because we start being nice. Be reasonable-”

“I am being reasonable, you’re the one who’s not listening!” Leif interrupted, raising his voice. “Manster should only unify with Thracia if it’s their best option and their choice, not for any other reason and not by force!”

“And why’s that?” Quan challenged, raising his voice to meet his son’s.

“Because liberating Thracia just because you can is short-sighted egotism!” Leif shouted.

“And what would you know of liberation? You fail every time you try! You couldn’t liberate Manster or Leonster or anywhere else!” Quan shouted in return.

As soon as he saw Leif’s face, he realized he had just made a terrible mistake. Quan had always been grateful for Leif’s expressiveness, making it easy to tell what his son was feeling with just a look. But now, the hurt on Leif’s face was the worst thing he had ever seen.

“Leif-” Quan tried to call out but it was too late, Leif had already run out the door. As much as Quan wanted to chase after him, he knew Leif was too quick. He’d never catch up.

At a loss for what to do and suddenly exhausted, Quan collapsed into the chair Leif had been in when he arrived. He covered his face with his hands, unable to get the Leif’s expression out of his head. In that moment, he couldn’t think of anything he regretted more.

* * *

  
All Sigurd could do was stare in shock as Quan finished recounting what occurred. There was silence between them as Quan went back to brooding and Sigurd struggled to take everything in.

“Ethlyn’s going to kill you,” he finally said.

“I might just let her,” Quan muttered.

Sigurd ran a hand through his hair, feeling completely out of his depth. “Why would you even say that?” he asked. “You don’t actually think-”

“Never,” Quan cut Sigurd off with a glare, hearing where his next question was going. Sigurd took a step back and Quan sighed, turning back to the table where the books Leif had been reading were stacked. A geography book peaked out from the bottom, a few scraps of scribbled on paper marking several pages.

Quan leaned into the table and bowed his head. “He’s right about me.”

“No,” Sigurd protested. “You want to unify with Thracia to bring peace to both countries. That’s hardly a selfish ambition.”

“But I didn’t think about the Thracians, not as he has,” Quan argued. “I saw Thracia only as their army, never sparing a thought for its’ people. I knew nothing about them and I didn’t care to learn. I never questioned why they would want to invade beyond simply wanting to conquer us, nor did I consider how what I intended to do would seem to them.”

“You didn’t know,” Sigurd said, trying desperately to think of some way to help his friend. It pained him to see Quan so distraught but comfort and words of advice had never been Sigurd’s strong suit.

“Didn’t know.” Quan laughed hollowly. “I didn’t know. My father explained our trade policy to me when I was Leif’s age. And I accepted it, just like I accepted everything else. I didn’t know because I didn’t want to know.”

They were getting nowhere. Quan was only falling deeper into self-loathing and Leif was most likely out there doing the same. If Sigurd wanted to be of any use, he needed to change his approach.

“Find Leif.” The force behind his words made it clear this wasn’t a suggestion. As much as Quan wanted to do just that, the memory of Leif’s face as he shouted the boy’s worst fears at him kept him rooted in place.

“What do I even say to him?” Quan asked, barely louder than a whisper.

“If he’s as upset as you, it’ll probably take you awhile to find him,” Sigurd said. “You have plenty of time to come up with something.”

As much as he wanted to help, this was the best he could do. It felt callous to tell his friend to do everything himself but he had to get Quan to do something. The longer he let this sit, the worse both he and Leif would end up feeling and the harder it would be to reconcile.

Finally, Quan straightened, stepping back from the table. His expression was still dark but he nodded at Sigurd before leaving. He hoped his attempt at advice would work. Otherwise Quan wouldn’t be the only one to face Ethlyn’s wrath.

* * *

  
The sun was setting by the time Quan found Leif.

He was in the woods the possessed Heroes had claimed upon their arrival. Quan knew Leif had been here several times before, visiting a girl he’d grown up with. Even if Leif did have a friend here, the thought of his son being around Heroes not in full control of themselves made him uneasy. To his relief, when he found his son, he was unharmed and alone.

Leif was sitting against a tree with his knees pulled into his chest, chin resting on them. Curled up like this, he looked much younger than fifteen. If he had noticed Quan, he didn’t give any indication, gaze fixed on the ground. Quan paused for a moment to see if he would react. When nothing happened, he called out.

“Leif.” Leif didn’t look up, but he didn’t try to leave or tell him to go away either, so Quan took this as a sign that he could approach. He sat down next to his son, who still didn’t move or look at him. They both sat in silence as Quan tried to think of how to begin.

“I shouldn’t have said what I did,” he finally said. “I shouldn’t have gotten angry and yelled at you like that.”

“You weren’t wrong,” Leif said dejectedly.

“Hey, look at me,” Quan tried to keep his voice gentle, still worried about scaring off his son. Leif finally turned his head, resting his cheek against his knees. If it wasn’t for his forlorn look, it would have almost been cute. “So much has been asked of you, more than ever should have. You still won’t tell me everything, but just knowing you put up a fight is enough to make me proud of you.”

He said nothing but Leif didn’t look convinced. Quan didn’t blame him after his earlier outburst. As much as he wanted to assure his son that he did have faith in him, there were other things they needed to discuss first.

“What made you ask about the trade policy with Thracia?” Quan asked. “I can’t imagine Finn told you about it. Did you come across it in one of the books here?”

“August told me,” Leif said, returning to resting his chin on his knees. “We had just escaped into Thracia and fought off a group of bandits. I wondered why they couldn’t do honest work and he told me everything; how the land was infertile, how parents would abandon their children when they didn’t have enough food, how Northern Thracia kept their food closely guarded despite having an excess of it. All I could think was how cruel it was. I couldn’t understand how this could have gone on for so long, why anyone would go along with this.”

Throughout his story, Leif had been building up to the question he had truly wanted to ask his father. He was nervous to hear his answer but at the same time needed to know. Unable to put it off any longer, Leif lifted his head and turned to Quan. “Why did you go along with it?”

Even knowing the question was coming, Quan still felt his stomach knot as Leif quietly waited for his response. It was hard to meet his son’s eyes as he spoke.

“It was easier not to question it, to put all the blame on Thracia rather than consider the role Manster played in their actions,” Quan admitted. “It made unification seem nobler if we were stopping belligerent aggressors rather than invading an impoverished land.”

“But if you saw the people of Thracia, what they were really like,” Leif pressed, “Would that have changed?” The desperation in his words and on his face pleaded with Quan to agree. Even though he dreaded his son’s reaction, Quan shook his head.

“I don’t think I could have admitted Manster had been in the wrong for so many years, no matter what I saw. I wouldn’t want to. I still don’t want to,” Quan said before giving Leif a sad smile. “You saw that yourself. You tried to tell me the truth and I refused to accept it. I got defensive and lashed out at you.” Quan had to look away before he could continue, the twisting of emotions on Leif’s face chipping away at his conviction.

“I was scared to admit I was wrong, that what I wanted to do was wrong,” he said. “Especially because it was you who was asking this of me. This may be the only place where I can be a father to you and I want to be someone you could look up to. But it turns out you’re already a far better man than me.”

“But I’m not,” Leif said emphatically. “I hated the Thracians and blamed them for their problems just like you.”

“But when you learned the truth, you were able to admit you were wrong and change your approach, which is more than can be said for me,” Quan countered. “That’s also why you’ll be able to do what I couldn’t and create true peace between Manster and Thracia.”

There was silence for a moment before something softly pressed against Quan’s side. Glancing down, he saw Leif leaning against him, face flushed.

“I’m sorry for calling you a short-sighted egotist. And for running off,” he said, trying to hide behind his bangs. Now that some time had passed, he felt rather embarrassed about how he acted. Quan just chuckled, reaching over to ruffle his son’s hair.

“We both needed time to calm down. And I may have deserved that.” He risked a smile, a wave of relief enveloping him as Leif returned it. As a final olive branch, Quan changed the topic to something he hoped would have a more lighthearted answer.

“So, what was that project you were working on?” Quan asked. “If you don’t mind talking about it.”

Leif shook his head. “I don’t mind. I wanted to see if there was anyway to salvage the land in Thracia or if not, if there were any records of any type of plant that had been able to grow under similar conditions,” Leif explained. “If that didn’t work, then maybe there’s something that can be done with all the rocks, something they can be made into or that can be mined from them. There has to be someway Thracia can support itself besides mercenary work.”

Just when he thought the kid was done surprising him, he went and floored Quan with just how much he could care. Overcome with pride, he put his arm around Leif’s shoulders and pulled him closer, silently thanking whatever god out there that had allowed them to meet.

“I wish you could be there,” Leif said, so soft Quan almost missed it.

“I may not be able to be there, but I’ll be watching,” Quan promised. “There’s nothing I want to see more than my son achieve his dream.”

This may have been their first fight but it likely wouldn’t be their last. Quan could be narrow-minded, Leif got carried away by his emotions, and both of them were stubborn. But at the end of the day, if Leif still looked at him with the same unabashed adoration as he was right now, then there was nothing more Quan could ask for.

**Author's Note:**

> As much as I want to believe the Leonster family would be happy together in Askr, I also love the headcanon Quan and Leif would have a tense relationship with their conflicting outlooks, Quan's questionable morality, and Leif's miserable life.


End file.
